The perceptions of English Language Teaching students on ELT websites

1. The perceptions of English Language Teaching students on ELT websites Assist. Prof. Dr. Hasan Bedir/ Cukurova University Inst Emsal Ates Ozdemir/Mersin University TURKIYE

2. The Study • Introduction • Definition of some terms • Purpose of the study • Methodology- Participants & Context Procedure Data Collection Data Analysis • Results & Discussion

3. A brief history of C.A.L.L.Computer Assisted Language Learning (Warschauer, 2004)

4. Theoretical Background • C.A.L.L. (Computer Assisted Language Learning) is in use since 1960 and in the eyesof many educational technology specialists, from that of tutor to that of tool (Warschauer, 2002). CALL is based on various teaching and learning theories depending on the era and its role. • Internet is one of the most recent tools of CALL which is in use of SLA in last couple of years. It is based on “Integrative CALL” phase and socio-cognitive view.

5. What does “Integrative Call’’ bring new? • It is based on Sociocognitive approaches; With sociocognitive approaches to CALL we move from learners interaction with computers to interaction with other humans via the computer (Kern &Warschauer, 2000)

6. What does “integrative call” bring new? • Use of multimedia and Internetmoving from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 Excerpted from O’Reilly (2007)

7. Internet and the World Wide Web? • Are they synonymous terms ?

8. No.... • Internet is a computer network connecting millions of computers all over the world. • The web is a subset of the internet and dates back to 1993s, however, Internet dates back to 1960s

9. Internet & ELT Internet provides various materials that meet different student abilities. Lee (2000): Internet-based activities are important in keeping the students interested and engaged in the current topic or activity. He suggests four kinds of activities to be used for this aim: conversation, retrieval of information and publication Felix (2002): The recent research based on constructivist learning approaches strongly suggest that the Internet and the Web have the potential to add something even to the best classroom teaching.

10. Advantages of Internet in ELT • Macmanus (2005) lists these as; 5 Cs ( communication, culture, connection, comparisons, community building) Motivational power Resource-based learning Control over learning Interactivity Publication Updatability

11. Purpose of this study; • To raise awareness of prospective English language teachers on the theoretical and the practical uses of the internet in language learning and teaching. Research questions: • 1. What qualities do the ELT students look for in an ELT website? • 2. What makes an ELT website insufficient for them? • 3. What are their views on the use of ELT websites in the future?

12. Methodology • Participants & Context: 80 English language teaching department students. (preparatory class students) • They place at the B2-C1 level according to the CEFR (Common European Framework for Languages) • 24 hours a week (writing, speaking, listening, vocabulary, academic study skills, grammar and reading) Procedure: The assignment sheet (3 among 13 websites) Why did you choose this website? Who is it for? What are the good points of the website? What are the bad points of the website? How can an English teacher make use of this website?

13. Data collection: The assignment sheets were collected. Interviews to clarify the vague points Data analysis: Quantitative and Qualitative analysis (spss for the frequency of prefferred websites) (content analysis for the answers to the open ended questions)

14. Results • The students’ preferences of specific websites

15. The reason why they chose a specific website • The outlook of the website ‘ It appealed to me with its good graphics and multimedia files’ • The name of the website • The audience of the website • The variety of authentic materials (esp.listening) ‘Ichose this website because there are lots of listening activities. I thought that it will help me improve my listening, so I will speak more effectively.’

16. Getting immediate feedback • To use as a reference source • To share ideas with other people

17. The bad features of a website for students • Not updated regularly • Unknown author • Too many ads • No bilingual quizzes • No texts for the listening materials • Navigation is slow • Pay charge for using the website

18. The good features of a website • Testing the English level of the users • Friends from different cultures (forums, chats on the website) communicating with the native speakers

19. Linder (2004) ‘ five basic possibilities of the networking English classroom’ • Real time communication with other network users (using the internet as a telephone or video conferencing device, Chat) • Deferred-time communication with other network users (email, mailing lists, newsgroups, and others) • Source of information ( text, images, voice and sound, especially on the World Wide Web) • Outlet for publication (text, images, voice and sound, especially on the World Wide Web) • Distance teaching/ learning

20. The ideas of the students on the use of ELT websites as pre-service English language teachers • To use as authentic materials (listening) • To update their knowledge (professional development) • To communicate

21. Implications and suggestions • English language teachers should be good guides for students to access ELT websites which are suitable for their needs. • They should catch up with the developments in the education world

22. Thank you... • Assist. Prof. Dr. Hasan Bedir/ Cukurova University hbdir@cu.edu.tr • Inst Emsal Ates Ozdemir/Mersin Universityinfo@emsalates.com TURKİYE